We can never fully recover, no matter how long we stay sober.
After getting a little time in the program, some of us begin to think we have been cured. We've learned everything AA has to teach us; we've grown bored with the meetings; and our sponsor keeps droning the same old refrain: "The steps--the steps--the steps!" We decide it is time to get on with our lives, cut way back on meetings, and try to make up for the years we have lost to active alcoholism. We do this, however, at the peril of our recovery.
Those of us who have relapsed after such an episode often try to go to as many meetings as we can--some of us go to a meeting every day for several years. It may take that long for us to understand that we will always be alcoholics. We may feel well some days and sick on other days, but we are Alcoholics every day. At any time, we are subject to delusion, denial, rationalization, justification, insanity--all the hallmarks of the typical alcoholic's way of thinking. If we want to continue living and enjoying life without the use of alcohol, we must practice an active program of recovery each day.
I am an alcoholic every day, but today I have the choice to be a recovering alcoholic. So just for today I will make that choice by practicing my program.